California State Flower

Golden Poppy

Eschscholzia

Adopted:1903

California State Flower: Golden Poppy

Adoption of the California State Flower

Over 100 years ago, on December 12, 1890, the members of the California State Floral Society voted for
a flower that they thought would best serve the State of California as an official emblem. There were three
contestants; the California poppy (Eschscholzia), the Mariposa lily (Calochortus) and the
Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri).

In her article, California's Esteemed Golden Poppy, Naomi Mathews writes "...the California
Poppy won the esteemed title of 'Official California State Flower' by an overwhelming landslide." The showy
Matilija poppy (also called the
giant poppy) received no votes and the beautiful
Mariposa lily
received only three votes.

It took almost 13 years for the California Legislature to get around to adopting the winning golden poppy
as the California State flower. The golden poppy, Eschscholzia, was selected as the official State flower of
California by an act of the Legislature on March 2, 1903. In 1973, the law was amended to designate April 6 of
each year as California Poppy Day.

Though the act stopped short of naming a particular species, the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica)
is the variety generally thought of as the official State flower.

The California Government Code

The following information is excerpted from the California Government Code, General
Provisions, Title 1, Division 2, Section 421.

State Birds & Flowers 1000-pc Puzzle:
Created at the request of The National Wildlife Federation this design is a beautiful and informative puzzle featuring every state bird perched on the appropriate state flower.

State Birds and Flowers Coloring Book
by Annika Bernhard - 51 accurately detailed, copyright-free renderings include national bird (eagle) and flower (rose) plus 50 state birds and flowers.

State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other Symbols:
A Study based on historical documents giving the origin and significance of the state names, nicknames, mottoes, seals,
flowers, birds, songs, and descriptive comments on the capitol buildings and on some of the leading state histories,
Revised Edition - George Earlie Shankle, Ph.D., The H.W. Wilson Company, 1938 (Reprint Services Corp. 1971)